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Notwithstanding recent tough US talk, its tilt towards Pakistan has been overt due to their long engagement in the Afghan theatre

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Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Secretary of Defence James Mattis pose for a group photo before India-US 2 2 Dialogue, in New Delhi. (Photo:PTI)

This refers to “2+2 steps forward, one step back” (September 10). In our 1962 war with China, the Russian press of the day blamed us for it. If the United States came to our help then, it was to spite the USSR. After China’s first nuclear test in 1964, the US had started giving us tacit support for our own nuclear programmes. But when it is about the ever uncertain Indo-Pak equations, the US does not mind being on the same page with China, as in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Notwithstanding recent tough US talk, its tilt towards Pakistan has been overt due to their long engagement in the Afghan theatre, irrespective of the incumbent at the Oval office.

A flurry of agreements could well be part of the overall Donald Trump agenda for this volatile region, now made more effervescent by China. These overtures must ride the long haul and be predicated on a pragmatic, honest and fresh Indo-US politico-economic paradigm. The onus of our bilateral ties lies more on the US.